Shelbs' Wild Waters: Biodiversity and Stewardship at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

'Picture This' is an app that can identify 1,000,000+ plants daily with over 98% accuracy. It is like a personal plant expert in your pocket! I'm not a seasoned gardener and this app has helped in picking flowers that go well with certain veggies. It has also helped me name and learn about plants in passing on our family walks. This app has helped me name and learn about the many trees we have on the paths of the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge nature trails. It's also helped me learn about native plant species in my area. In my opinion it's been better than google when wanting to get down and dirty with plants, shrubs and trees. Bonus, it even provides plant care tips! A few other features that I have found to be helpful are the "Toxic Plants", "Allergies Plants" and the 'Tips' section such as how to keep pests away from your flowerpots; really beneficial. I found it wonderful that the app wants to aid in protecting curious kiddos and pets

Beginner Web Soil Survey Experience The video ^, provided by our professor was very helpful at explaining how to use the web soil survey website. My blog's area is the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, I'd assume it has healthy soil, or I would at least like to think. However, they did not have information on that area, so my AOI for this assignment was 'Joint Base Lewis McChord' (JBLM). From navigating the website, I appreciate that soil surveys conducted prior to 2008 are archived and it clearly states how to access that information on their website. When a website is easy to use and navigate, it naturally will be used more. Next, I mapped out my AOI. Then, I clicked on the "Download Soil Data" Tab. When you download the soil survey information many folders get downloaded. Two being labeled as 'Spatial' and another as 'Tabular'. The Spatial table is a table containing geometry information; and its features can be seen on a map. The Tabu

(1943). Past Weather Olympia, WA [Photograph]. NOAA. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/Olympia,%20WA (1952). Past Weather Olympia, WA [Photograph]. NOAA. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/Olympia,%20WA (2024). Past Weather Olympia, WA [Photograph]. NOAA. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/Olympia,%20WA I pulled these three images from the NOAA's website: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/Olympia,%20WA These findings were for the Olympic Forest which is the closest recorded climate and weather information this website had to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The first photo shows location, the Olympic Forest is the light blue dot, and Nisqually is just to the right of it. The second photo is temperature data from 1952 and the third photo shows the climatologic data for May 2024 in that area. You'll see we had one day colder than normal coming in at 31 degrees F. Then two higher than average, hot days coming in at 88 degree

Hello everyone! Incase you're new or newer to google slides like I am, a great pointer is to click on the three dots so you can see my speaker notes. This can help explain my slides, that way you understand my vision for the lesson. Thanks for participating and enjoy!

EPA EJScreen This tool is great for researching environmental justice areas, whether you want to screen specific locations or use it as a mapping tool. There are numerous ways to interact with this tool. First, go to the website: https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/. Then, type in the address of the area you want to survey. Next, look at the toolbar on the far left of the screen. The toolbar has main sections and subsections. The main sections include Environmental Justice Indexes, Supplemental Indexes, Pollution & Sources, Socioeconomic Indicators, Health Disparities, Climate Change Data, Critical Service Gaps, and Additional Demographics. The area I explored the most was the EJ Indexes and Pollution & Sources. Under EJ Indexes, I was particularly curious about the Diesel Particulate Matter since there is a gas station right across the highway from the Nisqually Refuge. It showed that it does affect or seep into their soil; thankfully, there must be enough barriers bet

My defintion:Biodiversity in a sustainable sense is about maintaining the richness of life on Earth in a way that ensures ecological health and human well-being for the long term. It is vital for the stability of ecosystems, the services they provide, and the cultural and economic benefits they offer us. Personally, it means valuing and taking action to protect the natural world, while recognizing its profound impact on my life and future generations. Ways I can take action: I can contribute to the biodiversity conservation through local conservation projects, teaching my kids about supportive vegetation while replacing our grass lawn into local clover and planting local vegetation for local wildlife, I can support local organizations working to protect natural habitats, advocaat for policy change and volunteer where it promotes sustainability and the environment. I feel I learned extensively about these topics upon the many readings throughout this degree and for leisure and mor